Red Sox fans destroy Josh Beckett

Welcome to Boston where fans are crazy. Players should understand that. People in the city care about their baseball team. So when you miss a start because of an injury, don't spend your time the next day golfing. People will lose their mind. Just like they did last night when John Daley wannabe Josh Beckett got shelled by the Cleveland Indians.

When Josh Beckett mercifully made his exit Thursday night, it wasn’t the boos that were most noticeable.

It was the fan immediately behind the Red Sox’ dugout, swinging his arms as if he were swinging a golf club.

The fact that Beckett spent an off day playing golf when he was presumably resting a strained latissimus muscle had struck the same sore spot as the chicken-and-beer situation from the Sox’ meltdown last September, particularly with the Sox returning home from Kansas City having dropped two of three to the team with the worst home record in baseball.

There was resentment in the crowd, and they aimed it at Beckett.

Now if this happened in Seattle, nothing really would happened. Fans barely blinked when Ken Griffey Jr. was taking naps in the clubhouse during games. But Boston when their team is tanking? Yeah... sorry Josh Beckett, you're going to get wrecked. The problem I have with this is that you're already coming off the KFC and beer in the clubhouse scandal, you haven't looked good to start the season and now you're golfing when you're supposed to be injured.

When you have a fan base that cares as much as Red Sox fans, you can't come across like you don't care. Beckett comes across like he doesn't care even though he's making a butt ton of money. Come on guy, this team needs leaders, it needs standout guys to take charge and you're not doing it.

Do the Red Sox really sell out?

This shouldn't suprise anyone. Sorry to bust your bubble but teams lie about their attendance numbers. If they can create a sense of demand then they can sell tickets for a lot more money and get people to buy season tickets. For Boston's record sellout streak at Fenway, if they can make it seem like the place is always sold out than they won't have to rely on walkup numbers (which are always finicky).

By saying that they're always sold out, people think they either have to buy tickets in advance or buy season tickets. That means more than likely they'll go to the game and they're willing to pay more. If they think they can just walk up and get tickets than things like weather and not being able to buy a babysitter get in the way of attending the game. So it shouldn't suprise anyone that the Red Sox sometimes give away tickets to continue the sellout streak.

The Sox count the total number of tickets they distribute, including an average of 800 complimentary tickets each game to charities and others, as the basis for a sellout. They also count standing room tickets toward the total.

Skeptics might call it a “distribution streak’’ rather than a sellout streak, given the team’s reliance on complimentary tickets.

By giving away hundreds of tickets to Wednesday’s game and selling hundreds of other standing room tickets, the Sox kept their streak alive despite reporting a paid attendance of 37,434 - 61 seats shy of capacity. They did so by including the tickets distributed, which pushed the total to 37,819, exceeding the seating capacity by 324.

In fact, the paid attendance fell short of Fenway’s seating capacity in all three games this week against the A’s, according to official box scores. Yet thanks to the distribution formula, the streak that began May 15, 2003 endures.

Kennedy said the Sox do not give away tickets to keep the streak alive. He said the team generally gives away far fewer tickets than other major league team because of Fenway’s small size and the high demand for tickets.

He said the average paid attendance last year was 37,714, which exceeds the seating capacity, and includes standing room.

By the way 800 tickets isn't that much of a margin. I'd imagine other MLB teams give away a lot more and still don't have a full stadium. Don't go to Fenway thinking you can get right in.

Things aren't going so well for my Red Sox

While Casey has had the opportunity to pal around at Mariners' games, I've been watching the Red Sox season become unraveled. There is doom and gloom around Fenway Park. Kevin Youkilis is a zombie. Josh Beckett is a fatty. Bobby Valentine is a loon. Nick Punto... is well, Nick Punto. The BOSTON MEDIA IS ABOUT TO EXPLODE!

Why did the Red Sox fall apart against the Texas Rangers? Well...

1. Because they're good - they've made the World Series the past two years, their lineup is a who's-who's of offensive power.

2. Bobby V didn't help with his Youkilis comments - While I think this story is blown out of proportion, the Sox have been winless since the comments. While I think this is a speed bump, it did take the wind out of beating Tampa Bay three out of four times.

3. Boston's pitching is a train wreck - Either the starting pitching blows up and the bullpen has to make up the difference, the starting pitching is alright but the bullpen blows it, or the starting pitching and the bullpen both suck. Either way, there's nobody on the mound in a Red Sox uniform right now that has been lights out on the mound. Throw that at Texas, an offensive powerhouse, and the results aren't good. Just wait till the Yankees get to town. Boston has the worst pitching staff in the majors right now.

Boston's record right now? 4-8. Everyone is saying it's a sinking ship and no good can come from this. They might be right but can I point one thing out, again...

THEY'VE PLAYED 12 GAMES

I'm serious folks, the story will be different in two weeks, and again different two weeks after that. It's how baseball works. It's a marathon not a sprint. Let's not pronounce the Red Sox dead just yet. Also consider they've played some of the toughest team in the majors. The Mariners on the other hand have played the woeful Oakland Athletics. Just sayin'

Either way, lets take a chill pill and not give this season to the dead just yet.

Epic Photo: True, but sad

What happened to our favorite sports teams last night...

Sounders get tie, when they really, really needed a win - The Western Conference is absolutely stacked this year and by tying a depleted DC United team, Seattle now sits in fifth place in their conference. They needed this victory to keep pace with the other good teams and while it's super early, Seattle doesn't want to stand pat or tumble too far in the standings. DC was missing its best defender and starting goalie but the Sounders got shutout for the second straight game. Looks like after an offensive explosion to begin the season, Seattle is going to have to change some things up - mainly don't pass it to a triple-teamed Freddy Montero every time and expect something to happen?

Seattle improves to 3-1 despite Felix's less than super awesome outing - Four runs Felix? Really? Say it aint so! Good thing the Mariners offense has looked impressive in their past two games. The M's won 8-7 despite blowing a 7-1 lead they had through four innings. Felix got the win, which is slightly funny because usually when he gives up a run he can forget about picking up a W. The M's bullpen also held up which seemed absolutely WILD to me. This win comes against the woeful Oakland Athletics and now the Mariners will test their mettle against the Texas Rangers.

Chiefs lose despite what appeared to be a buzzer-beater goal - It seemed Spokane had tied it up with a second to go but... nope. The goal was waived off and Tri-City evened up the semi-final WHL playoff series with a 2-1 victory. However, the good news is that the series comes back to the Chiefs home arena for the next two games. No doubt the atmosphere will be great in this Washington rivalry.

Josh Beckett gives up five home runs, Detroit beats Boston 10-0 - In other words, I need a drink. Apparently Beckett didn't lay off the KFC and beer in the offseason or something. I'm not mad, just bitter. An 80-win season is really going to suck.

Luke Hochevar delivers for the Royals - Casey's favorite baseball team actually had a pitcher and handled the $150 million payroll of the Anaheim Angels of Shorten Your Team Name Already. Luke Hochevar allowed just two runs in six innings and the Royals notched 12 hits in a 6-3 victory.

The Red Sox are big spenders on injured players

It's always good to be the Boston Red Sox and have lots of money. That is, unless you spend all your money on injured players. A whopping 57 million dollars will be tied up on the DISABLED LIST when the Sox open up the season today. In otherwords, the season hasn't started yet and I already need a drink. MSNBC has the breakdown...

Carl Crawford – $19.5 million
John Lackey – $15.25 million
Daisuke Matsuzaka – $10 millon
Bobby Jenks – $6 million
Andrew Bailey – $3.9 million
Andrew Miller – $1.04 million
Rich Hill – $725,000
Ryan Kalish – approx. $480,000
Chris Carpenter – approx. $480,000

 It all adds up to $57.375 million, which is barely short of the approx. $62 million the Rays are spending on their entire 2012 roster.

 I think I'm fine with it if John Lackey stays on the DL and doesn't pitch for the Red Sox. Ever again.

Red Sox defeat Northeastern 25-0

So it's the first game of spring training and it's against a college team, but you've got to like a 25-0 victory for the Red Sox, right?

FORT MYERS, Fla.—FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Bobby Valentine is using every opportunity this spring to help rid the Red Sox of the memory of their September collapse. He's banned alcohol in the clubhouse, tweaked the rival New York Yankees and now, in their exhibition opener, he's let his ballclub loose -- against a college team.

Red Sox 25, Northeastern 0.

Cody Ross connected twice and Adrian Gonzalez hit one of Boston's five homers as a star-laden lineup roughed up Northeastern in the first game of a college doubleheader Saturday. The Red Sox host Boston College in the nightcap.

"Discount the competition, but it's better to do goo than to do bad," Valentine said. "I was pleased, obviously. How can you not be pleased?"

Perhaps more impressive than anything was the shutout part. With it being the first game of action this year, you'd think the pitching might be a little behind but Jon Lester came out and threw strikes in two innings. Also, every one of the 15 Red Sox position players got a hit, which is promising as well.

Against college kids, of course.

No Country for Old Men

With the retirement of Tim Wakefield... comes the retirement of Jason Varitek.

I mean the past few years his performance at the plate has been awful and the reason the Red Sox kept him around was his defensive abilities at catcher. He was basically Wakefield's own personal catcher, so there isn't a whole lot of use for him anymore in the lineup. But that was all in the recent past. If you look back further, he was a great player for the Sox.

Here's things he can put on his resume:
-Three time All-State
-Three time Golden Glove winner
-Three time Silver Slugger
-Only the third team captain in Red Sox history
-2004 and 2007 World Series Champion.

Yeah I think he's good.

Here's a snippet of the general "praise for a player who retired" story.

“He was just involved with everybody,’’ Buchholz said. “If you ever needed advice about anything - hitting, pitching, catching, whatever - he was the guy. If he didn’t know the answer, he would find out for you then sit down with you and let you know.’’

From every corner of the clubhouse yesterday, players praised Varitek after hearing that the 15-year veteran would announce his retirement tomorrow at JetBlue Park. They knew it was coming, Varitek having turned down the Sox’ offer to come to camp on a minor league contract. But that didn’t lessen the impact of the news.

“I loved working with him,’’ said Josh Beckett. “I never had a catcher before that I felt like cared more about wanting me to be successful even before he wanted to be successful.

“He’s going to be missed a lot, in the clubhouse and on the field.’’

Red Sox clubhouse will be dry

Yay! Baseball is a real sport! We promise! A sport that allows its athletes to drink beer in the clubhouse after or during the game. That seems legit right? Anyways after the whole BeerChickengate last season with the Boston Red Sox, it appears that new manager Bobby Valentine won't have any sort of that nonsense at Fenway Park this season.

Manager Bobby Valentine told the team today that he has banned alcohol in the clubhouse and on team flights returning to Boston.

The edict was expected given the news last fall that starting pitchers Josh Beckett, Clay Buchholz, Jon Lester and John Lackey drank beer and ate fast-food chicken while games were going on last season.

But Valentine may have done it anyway, saying that alcohol was banned from the Mets clubhouse when he managed the team from 1996-2002.

“It’s just what I’ve always done,” he said. “I’m comfortable with it that way.”

The Red Sox are the 19th team to ban alcohol in the clubhouse, a list that includes the Yankees, Mets, Dodgers and world champion Cardinals.

Way to take a stand! Nevermind that you guys do this for a job and most people that drink on the job would lose them in a hurry. Whatever, instead you make millions of dollars for looking like Kenney Powers when you show up to training camp (cough cough Josh Becketts man boobs). It's actually a sad, sad sign when this kind of thing is actual news in the Boston media circuit.

Bobby Jenks almost died

Well this doesn't sound fun at all...

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Bobby Jenks was not just fearful that his career was in jeopardy, the right-handed reliever was terrified for his life last December.

Jenks had surgery to remove bone spurs in his back on Dec. 12 at Massachusetts General Hospital and was back home in Phoenix a few weeks later when he noticed the incision in the middle of his back was leaking some kind of fluid.

The Red Sox pitcher bandaged it up himself and first thought nothing of it. But the problem didn't subside, so he visited a doctor and was rushed into emergency surgery on Dec. 30 to repair "a mistake" that Jenks said could have been a life-threatening situation.

"It was pretty serious," he recalled Thursday at training camp.

Jenks also was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism last September, and because of that issue he had to wait until December to undergo back surgery. Leading up to the surgery, he was working out and trying to get as physically strong as he could so his body could handle the procedure.

This doesn't make me want to get old and have back surgery, so hopefully... hopefully mine holds up so I can be the 70-year old doing 5K runs as opposed to moving around in a wheelchair.

Red Sox get the "other" Chris Carpenter

The Red Sox got Chris Carpenter! Only it isn't the St. Louis pitcher who's a strike-out machine and the anchor in that rotation. Nope... it's this guy...

The situation is finally resolved after close to four months of fruitless haggling. Carpenter, 26, was a third-round pick in the 2008 MLB Amateur Draft. He can touch 100 mph with his fastball, but the right-hander posted an ugly 5.91 ERA in 42 2/3 minor-league innings last season and projects as nothing more than a middle reliever. The Sox will also get a player to be named later and will send the Cubs a player to be named later at some future date.

For getting Theo Epstein as their GM, the Cubs had to give up players to be named later. While Boston initially asked for their best two players, Chicago smartly turned them down and instead sent over this guy who could get you excited if you didn't realize he "wasn't that Chris Carpenter."

Meanwhile, Boston doesn't have a fourth or fifth starting pitcher in the rotation. Ye gods...

Josh Beckett doesn't get it

What does Josh Beckett think of last season's "Beer and Chicken" fiasco that was brought up after the Red Sox epic collapse?

Just last week, Josh Beckett surfaced to give his side of last year's chicken-and-beer uproar.

Until this, Beckett had been heard only through a prepared statement in October. Like John Lackey, he had grudgingly conceded the pitchers could have behaved differently, but he took exception to reports of drinking on the bench.

Those reports, unlike the chicken-and-beer stories, have not gained credibility. Major media seems to have largely dismissed them.

Otherwise, Beckett attributed his silence to a preoccupation with caring for his infant daughter. Explanation accepted.

That does not change the disturbing fact that Beckett does not seem to get it. And he won't, until he stops talking as if the real crime was not in being guilty but in getting caught.

What happens in the clubhouse should stay there, he said, rather than leak out to the public.

(Sigh) Here's the issue with this situation. When you're watching the Rays and Yankees, the entire teams up on the top step in close games, guys seem to genuinely like one another, there's plenty of joking around, it looks like they're having fun out there. That's what you need with a baseball team, you need it to feel like a team. No surprise, they made the playoffs.

When your starting pitchers and team leaders cut out early to go in the clubhouse from some KFC and Coors Light, what does that say to the rest of the team? It shows a lack of focus, and a disregard for the importance of the team.

Enjoy the Boston media this year, Josh!

All hail the ultimate junkball pitcher

How can you say that a pitcher helped save a series when they pitched three and a half innings in a blowout loss? Well that would basically sum up Tim Wakefield in a nutshell. Wakefield announced his retirement from baseball, and at age 45 its probably a good time to hang up the cleats but nobody is going to forget about him anytime soon.

He might be the slowest pitcher in the league, he might make Jamie Moyer seem like he's throwing heat. He's payoff pitch is that quirky knuckleball. You know the one pitch your coach told you to stop throwing in Little League? Wakefield may give up home runs. He may not have days where the knuckle ball is working. He may be the only reason the Red Sox keep catcher Jason Varitek and mannequin at the plate in the lineup. But above all, Wakefield is one of those rare guys that may not look like a monster on paper but you want him on your team.

During the 2004 ALCS, Wakefield gave up his start in Game 4 to save a battered Red Sox bullpen when things look liked trouble. With everyone jumping up and down at the thought of another Boston collapse and the curse of the Babe rearing it's ugly head for another year, Wakefield did what was best for the team.

I'm not saying that he knew they were going to win the next four games BUT his mindset was more along the lines of "I'm going to give this the best chance I can to win the next four games." As a team, that's the mental state you need to be in to pull off something as historic as the 2004 ALCS. Wakefield and the team were stupid to think they could sweep the Yankees in the next four games but the funny thing is, that stupidity paid off.

New York would win Game 3 19-8 to go up 3-0 in the series, but Wakefield's act helped keep arms fresh. The more arms you can throw out there on the mound, the better chance you have at winning in a series setting. Boston won Game 4, Wakefield ended up being the winning pitcher in Game 5 and you know how the rest of the series went down. Legen...dary.

(Keep in mind that Wakefield was also the pitcher that gave up the Aaron Boone home run in the 2003 ALCS. Funny how baseball is poetic like that)

Here's the stat line from Boston.com...

Wakefield, 45, was 200-180 with a 4.41 ERA in 627 appearances in his 19-year career. The Florida native spent the final 17 seasons with the Red Sox, going 186-168 with a 4.43 ERA over 590 games. He is third in team history for victories, trailing only Cy Young and Roger Clemens, who each had 192.

Wakefield's 17 seasons with the Sox were the most for an active player. In team history, only Carl Yastrzemski (23), Ted Williams (19) and Dwight Evans (19) played more years with the team.

Wakefield leaves the Red Sox having pitched the most innings (3,006) and made the most starts (430) in team history. He was second in games pitched (590) and strikeouts (2,046).

He also allowed the most home runs (401), walks (1,095), hits (2,931), wild pitches (125), and hit batters (176) in team history and had the most losses.

Wakefield, the oldest player in baseball last season, was 7-8 with a 5.12 ERA in 33 games 23 of them starts. He pitched 154.2 innings.


The great thing about Boston is they definitely have players that become "our guys." (Carl Crawford, you're definitely not there yet) Favorites that play in Fenway and maybe they don't compile the greatest stats known to man, but the memories they make always stick with fans. Wakefield was one of "our guys."

Thanks Tim! After beer and KFC chicken-gate, it's good to remember there are still guys like you.

Epic Photo: Take that Don Zimmer

If you're a Red Sox fan, this never, ever gets old...

Learn more about about the Pedro vs. Zimmer incident.

It's over!

Both John Lester (Friday) and John Lackey had poor outings for the Red Sox in their first two games of the season and now Boston is 0-2 on the season. Granted there is 162 games in the season but I felt it would be better to press the panic button.

Either that, or I can officially start hating the Texas Rangers.

When they made the World Series last season everyone in Spokane magically became a Rangers fan. Now I know that their minor league affiliate is there in the Spokane Indians, but really a minor league team should not affect your major league rooting interests. I'll root for the Spokane Indians any day, but I'm not going to hop on a bandwagon because they get their players from the Rangers organization.

And people in Spokane just couldn't admit they were front-running, they had to throw in the "oh I've been a Rangers fan since they've been affiliated with the Spokane Indians."

Riiiiight, I remember everyone complaining they didn't get an affiliation with the Mariners.

Anyways, the Red Sox are 0-2, and I'm breaking into the booze cabinet.

It's the most wonderful time, of the year....

That would be the Boston Red Sox truck, ready to head down to Spring Training. OMG. OMG. OMG. It's starting! Baseball season!

Beltre becomes free agent

The Red Sox best player at the plate last year, and not the best Mariner at the plate two years ago is once again a free agent. Here is the story by ESPN... 

BOSTON -- Adrian Beltre has declined a $10 million player option that would have kept him with the Boston Red Sox next year.

The third baseman will get a $1 million buyout and becomes a free agent after just one season with the Red Sox.

The 31-year-old Beltre led the team with a .321 batting average and a career-high 49 doubles in 154 games. He hit 28 homers and tied David Ortiz for the team lead with 102 RBIs. The option increased from $5 million to $10 million in his last game because he passed the 640 plate appearances.

Boston signed him as a free agent after he hit .265 with eight homers and 44 RBIs with Seattle in 2009.

The Red Sox must decide by Thursday whether to exercise Ortiz's $12.5 million club option.

If the Red Sox knew what was good for them, they'd snap him back up because the guy was made for Fenway Park and having him at third base is better than the walking statue Mike Lowell. But what do I know, I've only played like four games in franchise mode on MLB 2K8.

Ummm... really, Tito?

That's Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona, shirtless, celebrating his daughter's engagement.

I'm praying that alcohol somehow played a role in this.

R.I.P. Red Sox 2010

As much as it pains me to admit it, the Red Sox season is over as neither the Yankees or the Rays are going to relinquish their lead over Boston in the standings. Here's a snippet from the eulogy of their season.

It is sad to have to write this eulogy this early. I know this team would be about 10 games better with a decent bullpen, a competent 3rd base coach, and a reasonable amount of injuries. This team was playing so well, even with Ellsbury and Beckett out, in mid June, before Pedroia went down. Just before he was about to get back, Youkilis went down, and then once he came back, he got hurt again, after 2 days, and is now likely out for the year. Even with all the injuries, this team stayed in the race in the toughest division in baseball for 5 months, and still have a good enough record to be tied for the lead in the AL West with the Texas Rangers, if they were in that division. In the NL, they’d still be leading the Wild Card. This eulogy is not so much a result of a bad team, but bad luck and a bad situation, division wise. That’s what makes this so tough.

Next year will be better. The Rays are sure to lose either one or both of Carlos Pena and Carl Crawford, and possibly their stud closer Rafael Soriano as well. All of the Sox injured players will be back and hopefully the team will stay healthy. They discovered decent young players like Ryan Kalish and Daniel Nava this year, who will hopefully be part of their team next year in some way. As long as they don’t lose a big chunk of the team in free agency, guys like David Ortiz, Adrian Beltre, and Victor Martinez, they should be very competitive next year.

I love how we cant wait for baseball economics to take over and Tampa Bay to get royally boned by other teams willing to pay more for players (i.e. Boston, New York). It's like rooting for vultures to slowly rip apart a person. Wonderful. 

Morning coffee... July 30, 2010

Are the Boston Red Sox and baseball in general... boring? Bill Simmons thinks so.

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Mission Valley Mariners win state tournament opener.
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